Splice absorbing structure

Abstract

There are provided blocks (A), (B), . . . corresponding to pieces of sub-harness (A), (B), . . . . In each block, there are provided a longitudinal opening 14 and a bottom opening 16, which are arranged in the vertical direction, at a forward end portion of each accommodating chamber 11 for accommodating the spring contact point 23 a of the connecting terminal 20 (A), 20 (B), . . . . When the blocks are put on each other in the vertical direction, the top 23 a of the spring contact point 23 on the lower block 10 (A) side gets into the bottom opening of the upper block 10 (B) from the longitudinal opening 14. Therefore, the top 23 a of the spring contact point 23 on the lower block 10 (A) side comes into contact with the rear face of the base piece 23 b of the spring contact point 23 on the upper block so that electrical continuity can be attained. Due to the foregoing, the splice between the pieces of subharness (A) and (B) can be absorbed.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A splice absorbing structure comprising: 
       a plurality of sub-harnesses for distributing and picking up electrical signals from a wire harness, said sub-harnesses branching off the wire harness, each of said sub-harnesses having a plurality of electric wires and a branch section for absorbing splices of the electrical wires, said branch section including:  
       a plurality of connecting terminals respectively crimped to an end portion of the electrical wire at the branch section of the sub-harness, each of said connecting terminals having a contact point elastic piece at an end portion thereof; and  
       a plurality of blocks, the number of which corresponds to the number of sub-harnesses, capable of being engaged with and stack on each other, having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers arranged in parallel for accommodating the connecting terminals,  
       wherein when the plurality of blocks are stacked on each other, the contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal of one sub-harness on one side contacts the corresponding contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal of an adjacent sub-harness so that electrical continuity can be accomplished therebetween, and  
       said plurality of blocks are configured to be attached and detached from each other in a direction perpendicular to a plane containing said accommodating chambers.  
     
     
       2. A splice absorbing structure according to  claim 1 , wherein the blocks defined by stacking a plurality of the blocks are directly connected with other devices so that electrical continuity can be accomplished. 
     
     
       3. A splice absorbing structure according to  claim 2 , wherein an uppermost block out of the stacked blocks serves as a cover of the longitudinal opening provided at the end of the terminal accommodating chamber, and said contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal, which is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, is a female terminal. 
     
     
       4. The structure according to  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of connecting terminals is provided with an electrical wire crimping section for crimping the electric wire. 
     
     
       5. A splice absorbing structure comprising: 
       a plurality of sub-harnesses for distributing and picking up electrical signals from a wire harness, said sub-harnesses branching off the wire harness, each of said sub-harnesses having a plurality of electric wires and a branch section for absorbing splices of the electrical wires, said branch section including:  
       a plurality of connecting terminals respectively crimped to an end portion of the electrical wire at the branch section of the sub-harness, each of said connecting terminals having a contact point elastic piece at an end portion thereof, and  
       a plurality of blocks, the number of which corresponds to the number of sub-harnesses, capable of being engaged with and stack on each other, having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers arranged in parallel for accommodating the connecting terminals,  
       wherein when the plurality of blocks are stacked on each other, the contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal of one sub-harness on one side contacts the corresponding contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal of an adjacent sub-harness so that electrical continuity can be accomplished therebetween; and  
       the block has a longitudinal opening and a bottom opening at the tip end of the terminal accommodating chamber for accommodating the contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal, a vertex of the contact point elastic piece is engaged with the bottom opening on the other block from the longitudinal opening when the blocks are stacked on each other, so that the top of the contact point elastic piece comes into contact with a base portion of the other contact point elastic piece to absorb a splice between one piece of sub-harness and the other piece of sub-harness.  
     
     
       6. A splice absorbing structure according to  claim 5 , wherein the blocks defined by staking a plurality of the blocks are directly connected with other devices including a joint box so that electrical continuity can be accomplished. 
     
     
       7. A splice absorbing structure according to  claim 6 , wherein an uppermost block out of the stacked blocks serves as a cover of the longitudinal opening provided at the end of the terminal accommodating chamber, and said contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal, which is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, is a female terminal. 
     
     
       8. A splice absorbing structure comprising: 
       a plurality of sub-harnesses for distributing and picking up electrical signals from a wire harness, said sub-harnesses branching off the wire harness, each of said sub-harnesses having a plurality of electric wires and a branch section for absorbing splices of the electrical wires, said branch section including:  
       a plurality of connecting terminals respectively crimped to an end portion of the electrical wire at the branch section of the sub-harness, each of said connecting terminals having a contact point elastic piece at an end portion thereof; and  
       a plurality of blocks, the number of which corresponds to the number of sub-harnesses, capable of being engaged with and stack on each other, having a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers arranged in parallel for accommodating the connecting terminals,  
       wherein when the plurality of blocks are stacked on each other, the contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal of one sub-harness on one side contacts the corresponding contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal of an adjacent sub-harness so that electrical continuity can be accomplished therebetween; and  
       at least one block has a lateral opening for communicating an end of one terminal accommodating chamber with an end of the other terminal accommodating chamber, which is adjacent to one terminal accommodating chamber, and when the connecting terminal is accommodated in each terminal accommodating chamber under the condition that the contact point elastic piece of turned sideways, a vertex of one connecting terminal comes into contact with a base piece of the other connecting terminal via the lateral opening to absorb a splice between one distributing electrical wire and the other distributing electrical wire.  
     
     
       9. A splice absorbing structure according to  claim 8 , wherein the blocks defined by staking a plurality of the blocks are directly connected with other devices including a joint box so that electrical continuity can be accomplished. 
     
     
       10. A splice absorbing structure according to  claim 9 , wherein an uppermost block out of the stacked blocks serves as a cover of the longitudinal opening provided at the end of the terminal accommodating chamber, and said contact point elastic piece of the connecting terminal, which is accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber, is a female terminal.